Renaissance
by CelesteBloodfire
Summary: So many people are looking to the BAU for a new life but secrets are running rampant through the team. The new girl always seems to hold a part of herself away from the rest of the team. Penelope doesn't know how to tell her friends the biggest secret in her life. Full description inside. Rate M to be safe.
1. Penelope's First Case

**Full Description: **Penelope was perfectly settled into her life with her new friends until the new girl came forward about her childhood. But Penelope had a secret of her own, several in fact. What would Morgan do when he found out? Would she be able to keep the life she made at the BAU? Or would everything come crashing down around her? Scarlette worked so hard to bury the part of her life that could hurt the person she loves more than anything else in the world, but when a case from her past comes to light she can no longer bury it. Will her new home be ripped from her forever?

* * *

This is set when Penelope joined the BAU. But there never was an Elle or Gideon. Not that either character was bad I just felt that it was more complete with Hotch, JJ, Emily, Rossi, Morgan, Garcia, and Reid. I know this is nothing like the first case they worked on.

* * *

Penelope was so glad to go to work. She had never even set foot in the main part of the FBI building before. She was met at the beginning of the day by SSA Aaron Hotchner. He welcomed her to the team and showed her what would be her office. She walked out the door and to her car and grabbed a box from the car. She walked back into the main building just as everyone else around her filled in. She was almost struck dumb by the African-American god-looking man. But she'd been suckered by too many pretty faces to have anything to do with the one standing before her. So she kept on walking. Before she could walk away she heard, "Gomez." She kept walking having no idea who he was talking. "Hey, Baby Girl." It finally dawned on her. He thought her name was Gomez. She turned around. "Baby-Girl?"Penelope gave him her thousand watt smile and fluttered her eyelashes. What could it hurt to flirt? "Forgive me I didn't know your real-" He started.

Penelope decided to interrupt him. "I've been called worse."

* * *

Derek saw her walk in with that box full of stuff. He turned to Reid and said, "What is the name of the new tech girl?"

"I think its Gomez or something like that." The kid said preoccupied by what he was reading. So Morgan looked at her as she walked in the doors off the elevator.

"Gomez." He had said but apparently she hadn't heard him . "Hey, Baby Girl." That got her attention.

"Baby-Girl?" she asked

"Forgive me, I didn't know your real..."

She smiled "I've been called worse."

He looked over at Reid who was having a grand ole time. He knew her name Garcia; he just wanted Derek to look like a fool in front of Penelope who he was obviously crushing on. Crushing being the operative word there, like, he could feel his heart being crushed when she wasn't there. It was irrational and he knew it. Being a profiler, however, he knew feelings were never rational. He razzed Reid for a little bit before JJ came down the stairs of the BAU. "We have a case. Someone is kidnapping kids. We have eight victims so far. No bodies though." Hotch spoke up next with. "Ok everybody, wheels up in 15."

* * *

It did not take long for Penelope to get into the swing of things. She loved her new job and everyone around her. When she got her system set up the way she wanted there was nothing she couldn't do for them. She flew through the system with ease. This was definitely her element. When Derek called she was so confident she answered the phone with. "You have reached Penelope Garcia. Goddess of all things knowable and unknowable; speak and be heard."

She heard Derek's husky chuckle on the other line. "Well Goddess, I need a background check on a man by the name of Professor Zachary Cole."

"I got nothing, sweet cheeks. I found a driver's license but no birth certificate or criminal record. Probably an alias, give me 15 minutes to dig a little deeper and I might find something." She ran through every background check or every name even close to Zachary Cole. 15 minutes later on the dot she called Derek. "Hey Hot Stuff you are going to love me forever. Zachary Cole was an alias. But the guy wasn't too careful about covering up his alias. He was born Kyle Zachary Cole. He had gotten caught peeping in windows of teenage girls when he was 16. He got sent to juvie-for breaking in and stealing their underwear-where he stayed until he turned 18, supposedly coming out a new man."

"Must have been a lot of houses to get two years." Derek Morgan said.

"Every single girl on his block. He got his GED a year later in 1983. In 1993 he got his PhD in Psychology and a minor in history. By this time he was able to teach wherever he wanted but he chose Willow Creek Montana. A school where the Junior High and High School were in the same building with the same teachers. The kidnapping started in the spring of 1994. All blonde girls between the ages of 12 and 15. Over the course of the two years he was there, they found 10 bodies. He was gone by the winter of 1996. Then Zachary Cole Miller shows up in Snow Falls Idaho another small town with a Middle School and High School joined together. He has all the same qualifications as Kyle Zachary Cole, but with a different name and social security number. The kidnappings started later that winter. He was there for five years with a body count totaling 21." She said

"How many aliases does this guy have, Baby Girl?" Derek asked

"Zachary Tyler Cole is his fourth. His third one was Sioux Falls Iowa, 2001. Kyle Cole Smith racked up 16 bodies in 3 years. Now he has been in Maine for 2 years and racked up a total 14 bodies with one girl missing. Leaving us with a grand total of 61 deaths and one missing in a 12 year span. Wait there seems to be one that escaped in 2004. She moved away when her parents refused to press charges. Thought she was lying. Her name is Scarlette Lacy."

"Does he have any land?" he said.

"Right now Professor Zachary Cole owns two pieces of land. His house he lives in now and a climate controlled storage facility down by the docks."

"Thank you, Baby Girl." Morgan said quickly and got off the phone.

Give that woman a gold star. Man she is good. Derek thought. No one else could have found and linked together four aliases in fifteen minutes. Even if they were hidden that poorly. Derek gave the info to Hotch. "Ok Derek, Spencer, Emily you guys go check out the storage facility. Rossi and I will grab one of the detectives and head over to the house." They all nodded and headed in their separate directions. They pulled up to the main office and Derek got out. He ran into the office and was faced by what Derek could only call a slob and even Derek could be a little messy. "Excuse me, sir. Have you seen this man?" Derek asked pulling out a picture of Kyle Zachary Cole. "Oh, Kyle Allen, he was just here yesterday."

"What is his locker number?" Derek asked and he told them. Derek ran to locker 437 and opened it. The girl was there lying helpless on the floor, she was maybe 12 or 13. "Are you Melissa Andrews?" The girl nodded slowly. He nodded for Emily to take care of her. Emily nodded and went over to the girl. Next he got on his radio and spoke to Hotch. Derek told him what happened and Hotch put out an APB on Kyle Zachary Cole. Within hours Kyle Cole was in custody and Melissa was back with her family. Derek thought for a while on the plane ride. "How could a guy smart enough to get a PhD be dumb enough to leave a trail that any skilled Tech Analyst could find but still evade the cops for 12 years?" Derek mused.

"Well I don't think there are many people as skilled as Ms. Garcia." Rossi replied.

* * *

Please read and review.


	2. The Newbie

Seven years later.

A new girl had come to the BAU. She was maybe 20 years old but she was fully qualified to be a profiler. With common interests and their sociable personalities the she and Penelope became quick friends. Looking at her new friend Penelope could not help drawing comparisons between her and the rest of the team. She had Derek's strength. The kind that covered up a whole lot of emotional baggage. Too much baggage for one so young. She also had Derek's love for Martial Arts but her specialty was Okinawan Shorin Ryu Karate. When Derek found out he said he wanted to spar. She also had Reid's innocence. She was naive to the point of hilarity sometimes. Especially when Derek made a dirty joke. She'd just stand there waiting for him to explain and when he did she would turn beat red. Almost as beat red as her hair which was a natural but rather dark red. We can't forget her brain. Kid was in high school by the time she was 10. She don't talk about it much. She had Hotch's seriousness. You could tell that a long time ago she would smile all the time, but now its a rare treat. She had Emily's loyalty. A friend in Scarlette was a friend for life. She had JJ's caring personality. If anybody needed help she was the first in line. It didn't matter who it was. She had Rossi's flare for cooking except Scarlette's thing was desserts. She once brought in a Tiramisu that made Hotch groan in food ecstasy. And to finish her list of comparisons Scarlette was almost as good of a hacker as Penelope. The only difference is Scarlette was able to hack the CIA long enough to if Princess Di's accident was really an accident. The problem was the spoiled brat wouldn't tell. Whenever she asked she would get one of her smiles.

The song lyric that comes to mind is "...And when you smile the whole world stops and stares for awhile." Because people-mostly guys-will stop what they are doing and stare. It kind of creeps her out though. But oh my god the first time we had ever seen her laugh Reid tripped over his own feet and landed face first in the trash can. She has eyes so green they could be cuts of emerald. I mean don't get me wrong...its not like she's an angel sent to earth or anything but she is exceptionally beautiful and its so rare to see her smile and laugh. If she did it more they could get used to it. Scarlette looked up from the folder to see Garcia staring at her. "What?" Garcia just smiled and shook her head. Scarlette rolled her eyes. Its not like Garcia was homosexual or anything...well technically she was bi but she was so in love with Morgan it didn't count. She was just able to tell when a girl was hot...and for being so young she was hot.

"There is something not right about these two letters. Garcia call up the team, please." And a couple of minutes later Derek came on the phone. "I was just thinking about you Baby Girl, and what we are going to do when we get home. I am going to-"

"Derek."

"I love the way you say my name, mama." Derek said. "It makes me all hot in places that-" Garcia turned a bright shade of pink. "No, Hot Stuff, listen to me. Scarlette is sitting right next to me." That shut him up. All Scarlette could do was clear her throat and say. "Hi, Derek."

"Sup, Kitten?" He'd been calling her that since he pissed her off by ignoring Penelope's advances. She had to go up to him and give him a piece of her mind. Which coming from somebody maybe 5' 3" it must have been a sight to see.

"Yeah you better watch out, man, Kitten has claws, and she don't like nicknames. Are you almost to the precinct I don't feel like explaining this more than twice." She said with a smile. As if they wouldn't get it the first time, but it was still easier to tell them all at once.

"Yeah, Kitten, I just came in the door." Derek said. "We got JJ, Reid, Emily, Hotch, and Rossi here too."

"Ok there is definitely something up with these two letters signed 'Your Butterfly.'"

"What?" Morgan asked.

"Hold your horses, Cowboy. Anyway, they are not the same person. They are so close to identical its scary. But upon closer inspection, and by closer I mean I was wearing reading glasses and using a magnifying glass. There are enough subtle differences to make me question and add that to the fact that the writing styles are different. I am not sure what that means for you guys, but I do know that to get that close to identical he has to have a real grasp of Graphology."

She got a chorus of "Thanks Scarlette." and one "Thanks, Kitten."

"Derek Morgan, save the pet names for Garcia. I don't want them. I am serious." She said when she heard Morgan laugh. "Hey, Morgan, when are getting together to spar?"

"I don't know why?"

"Because I am making you a bet. When we spar I wanna go all out, and if I win you get to stop calling me Kitten."

"And if I win?"

"What do you want Derek?" She was challenging him. "A teddy bear. Is it scary being a field agent?" Yeah target his masculinity thats smart.

"You wouldn't know, Miss I-sprained-my-ankle-again."

"Hey if you didn't make me go undercover in heels...on ice I would not have tripped. If you wanted me in the field you would have put Prentiss in heels." But he needed to get off the phone to finish the case. "See you when you get back." and she hung up. Garcia was chucking next to her. "The way you two act together...its like he's the older brother. Its funny as hell the way you challenge him. If he loses to you when you guys spar it'll be like he's losing his...man card...to his sister...or something."

"The way we interact? You two were pussy-footing around eachother for eight years and now every time you get on the phone you have to remind him that there might me someone else in the room too." Garcia couldn't say anything. She knew Scarlette was right. They both broke out into one more fit of giggles before returning to their work.

* * *

That little girl had another thing coming if she thought this was over. The rest of them team watched him stare at the phone bewildered. They all laughed. It was like watching a grown man interact with his high strung teenage sister. While he was confused as hell the rest of the team was getting their jollies. He was a profiler, he was supposed to be able to read anybody like an open book. Scarlette had him baffled. One of these days he was going to sit her down and pick her for right now he needed to take what she had given him and finish up here. He was definitely going to get her later. And if she thought she was going to beat me with her Okinawan Karate she was crazy. He'd been studying self defense since before she could talk.

* * *

Reid turned toward JJ. "Did you know that unlike most Martial Arts Okinawan Shorin Ryu Karate actually encourages you to strike at the groin?" JJ choked on her coffee. Oh this was going to be fun.

* * *

What do you think? Should I keep going?


	3. Lets Spar

"So have you decided what you want yet, handsome? Because even if you win I will not willingly let you call me, Kitten."

"It's a surprise." Derek replied as sure of himself as ever.

"So are we playing Shorin Ryu rules?" she asked innocently.

"Whatever makes you feel better, Kitten." Reid and JJ just started cracking up.

"Morgan you do realize that when I say you can't call me Kitten, that means any and all other versions including but not limited to; Kitty, Kitty-Cat, Kit, Cat, and pretty much any nickname or variant of a nickname."

"Understood." and they were off. They started off circling each other on the mat. Looking for openings. Scarlette slowly put down her arms getting ready for an attack to the face. When Derek went to kick at her head she quickly shot a kick to his groin, and he fell to the ground. Scarlette said. "Hey Derek did you know that Okinawan Shorin Ryu Karate is one of the few Martial Arts to utilize and encourages targeting of the groin." Derek looked to Reid and he nodded his head. "Yeah Reid didn't tell you? He knew the whole time." Derek stood back up straighter. Already back in his fight stance he went to attack her again. This time leaving his **floating ribs*** wide open. She side stepped his punch and punched him in the floating ribs. He clutched his side but could still stand up. She used his slightly off balanced-ness to take him to the ground. Reid looked over at Emily "Shorin Ryu has a very extensive ground program to the point that even small martial artists like Scarlette can master it." He said just as Scarlette put Morgan in a masterful arm bar. Morgan's only hope was to try and shake her off because there were no ropes. Morgan was not tapping out so-not wanting to hurt him-Scarlette let him go. They both jumped quickly onto their feet. Once again Morgan went to kick her but she went low and swept his feet out from under him knocking him out of the ring. 1 point for Scarlette. Morgan gets up no way is this over yet. Morgan went on the full out offensive punch after punch Scarlette barely had time to block or dodge. It got to the point where they would stay within two feet of each other attacking and counter attacking all in quick procession. The people on the side lines could barely keep up. Finally Derek landing a good sized punch to the side of her head knocking her out cold.

Next thing she knew Derek was shaking her awake with a scared expression on his face. She must look like she died or something. She took the water out of his hands took a swig and gave it back. She stood up and faced Derek. "So what's up, man, what is my surprise?"

"Wouldn't you like to know. Meet me at my car after work tonight."

* * *

"Why?" She asked suddenly weary. It really made him wonder what she went through if she could forgive for knocking her out but is all of a sudden weary to share cars.

"Don't worry, Kitten, I am not kidnapping you." She was still tense. "Garcia will be there, too." At the mention of Garcia she let her hackles down and nodded.

After this whole thing went down he realized something. The only time they shared a car is when Scarlette came into the field. When they went out as a team she always took her own car and only JJ, Garcia or Emily had even seen the inside. Someone had fucked this girl up early. She wouldn't trust a man to save her life but she could spar one no problem. Well that was going to be one of the things they were going to talk about tonight. "If you are more comfortable you can follow me and Garcia in your car and she nodded.

The rest of the day moved by rather quickly. Before long they were all filing out of the car in front of Morgan's apartment. Scarlette was quiet as they all went into the house. They all sat down and Morgan offered her a glass of hot cocoa. They all sat around his living room utterly quiet. Finally Derek spoke up. "My request is a two parter. We'll start with the easy one first. What happened to you?" All of a sudden the door flew open and there stood Reid. Scarlette was once again terrified. Garcia stood up and went to her side. She seemed to relax a little but not much. "Sorry I am late." Reid said. Derek just motioned for him to sit down on the other side of Garcia. "Seriously Lettie, what happened to you? From the moment you walked into my apartment you have been so ready to bolt. And they think I have trust issues. Ok lets start at the beginning."

She shook her head. "Rule number 1. Do not profile the other profilers." Derek smiled.

"Don't worry, Kitten. I won't hurt you."

"Ok only because I can't change your mind."

* * *

_I had a normal childhood. My mom used to read me her novels. Nothing too hard or anything and she'd read me her latest articles on cultural anthropology. I went into school and found that anything I wanted to do I excelled at. Except sports. They skipped me forward several grades forward. My mom died when I was 9. I was 10 when I started High School and 14 when I left. No one wanted the smart one. All I was good for was homework help. All the girls would kick my ass and leave me tied up in the bathroom of in my locker. The guys were all older than me so only the creepy ones would hang with me. I was 12 when it happened. My dad forgot to pick me up from school again. 3:30 gave way to 4:30 and then eventually 5:30. Then Mr. Smith came out of the school. He saw me just sitting there and offered me a ride. I thought it would be ok. I still believed teachers never do anything wrong. Mr Smith pulled over the minute we were out of anyone's sights and started rapping me repeatedly. At first he wouldn't let me out of the car. I thought he was going to kidnap me and kill me. I was abused, bruised and bleeding when I got home. The first thing that greeted me was my step-mother. "Where have you been young lady, it is your turn to make dinner." It was always my turn to make dinner. I was lucky I had pot roast earlier that morning before I went to school. I told her that then went to the shower to clean up. I showed up to school the next day with enough cover-up on my face to fill in my grandmother's wrinkles. That was when the superintendent caught on to what was happening and he took off. He never went to prison, my parents didn't want to pay for a lawyer so they dropped the charges. _She looked around and saw all three of their shocked faces but now she needed to continue. _I was so excited to start school the next year. Now that the bane of my existence was gone . But I hadn't noticed that I was an early bloomer even though I hadn't had my period yet. I still had pretty large boobs considering my age and you can bet the guys noticed. At first I really thought they liked me for me but no such luck. Anytime I was alone with a guy they tried something or tried to force something. I was only 13 what was I to do? So I just avoided guys and girls altogether. I avoided them all. When I went to college the women were nicer but the men hadn't changed much. After all this happened I figured out I was unable to have children...ever and it would probably kill me to even try. So why risk it when the only thing I had to gain was sex. And to be real honest my experiences with that weren't great. Now here I am spilling my guts out to you three. _

* * *

Garcia was crying. Morgan looked ready to kill. Reid just looked shocked. Before she could let them pity her more she stood up and looked at Morgan. "What is the second part of this bull-shit?"

"Not tonight I will tell you in the morning." Morgan replied with forced calm.

* * *

***Floating Ribs **The ribs on the bottom of the rib cage that are attached at the spine but do not meet at the sternum.


	4. Reactions

Derek stared at the little girl who had just told him that she was a case of undocumented rape. The bastard who caused her anxiety towards men was running free as if he'd done nothing wrong. He wanted to punch something. She was 12! It wasn't as if she didn't get enough shit from the other students. A teacher should not have added to it. "How did the other kids treat you?" Reid asked. Scarlette gave a dark chuckle.

"Like I said. I was beaten up a lot. I was shoved into my locker almost everyday. I would go home bruised and in pain. Then the people would have me do their homework for them. If I didn't the beatings would get worse. The first time I refused to do their homework I was beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die tied up in the locker room. When my dad noticed I was gone he didn't even come look for me. The next morning the janitor untied me and I went to my classes like nothing happened. The next time I refused they left me there all weekend. Each time my dad and step-mom would yell at me for starting fights at school and not being home to do what I needed to do. After Mr. Smith took off we moved. There I was the new kid and the genius." She didn't even notice she was shaking but Derek noticed and it made him want to hit something. "College was a little different. This time it wasn't the women who would beat me up. I don't know if you know about the Pig Party but I didn't know what it was until I got there." Reid looked like he hadn't ever heard it before so she told him. "A Pig Party is when the pledges at a fraternity take the ugliest women they know to this party and who ever the fraternity said was the ugliest their date won."

"And they invited you? But you're like..." Reid cut himself off and Scarlette gave him a smile.

"Thank you for saying that Reid but at the time I had lost some much weight I was skin and bones. Add that to the fact that I had a thing for alcohol. I was lucky I was able to keep it together during the week so I could got to school and work, but on the weekends I was drunk from Friday night to Monday morning. So I looked strung out and emaciated with these big sunken in green eyes. Not exactly the belle of the ball. That night I decided to dress up and I actually looked a lot like an anorexic model. My 'date' was laughed out of the room. At the end of the night he even tried to get me to sleep with him. He was a little astounded when I told him to fuck off. The Pig Party was on the last day of freshman year. I spent the summer sinking further and further into alcoholism lucky to even keep my job. I didn't want to eat so I lost even more weight. I just slept, cut myself, go to work, get drunk, pass out and start it all over the next day. Then my older sister found me in a pool of alcohol and puke. I had acute alcohol poisoning. If she hadn't picked that day to stop over unannounced I would be dead. She forced me into rehab and then I found myself an AA group. I had just turned 17 when I was sent to rehab. I have been sober now for four years as of tomorrow."

"Congratulations." Derek said. Garcia just sat there hanging on to her as if everything would go away if she just held her long enough. Now even Reid looked like he wanted to hit something. "Now that you guys know can you guys be there for my sobriety birthday tomorrow. I want some people I know to be there. I am telling the longer version of my sobriety story and I would like some moral support. She got three people nodding their heads. They spent the rest of their afternoon trying to absorb everything she told them.

* * *

It was nights like this she really wanted a beer. She had to re-live the worst days of her life. When she got home later that afternoon she just fell into bed.

She understood why Derek made her do it and she wasn't even mad though under other circumstances with other people she'd be pissed. They wanted to know...to understand...her. To get to know her better. Like friends. She retreated back into her little shell. Speaking only when spoken to. The rest of their afternoon had been rather enjoyable.

* * *

Reid looked at the door where Scarlette had just walked out then turned to Morgan. "That girl is 21 and celebrating her sobriety birthday. Most kids are just beginning to drink alcohol and she already has to swear not to touch it again."

"Such is the life of teen addicts, pretty boy." Derek said. "I know its not fair what she went through and no one should ever have to but there ain't a lot we can do. Be there when she asks, support her, be her friends, but if she chooses to go at it alone..." he left the statement open because they knew it was a definite possibility.

* * *

I know this one is a little shorter but the next one will be better I promise


	5. Garcia

Later that night Penelope invited him over to her place. She told him to giver her 20 minutes. It was almost 6:30 when he showed up. Penelope looked up at Derek. She has known him for 8 years and it didn't take long for her to fall in love with him. If she was being honest she had loved him from that first day when he called her Baby-Girl and she looked in those golden brown eyes. It was like falling into honey and chocolate. When Scarlette called her out on her feelings for Derek she really had no choice but to see it through. But there was a secret she'd been keeping from him for a long time. A secret she hadn't had the heart to tell anybody, not even Kevin for the time she spent with him.

"What's wrong Baby-Girl?" Derek asked concerned. "You have that face on."

"I hate profilers." Garcia pouted.

"You can tell me anything. You know that right?" Derek said.

"Yeah I know but there is this secret I have been keeping from every body and its kind of a big one. I don't know how you are going to react. I have been struggling with how I was going to tell you for 8 years so it never got done. I don't want you to..." Garcia started out calm but now she was working herself up and starting to ramble.

"Pump your breaks. What is this about Garcia?" Derek interrupted.

"I have a son. 9 years ago he was born with a brain tumor. It was was malignant but operable and he is now in remision. There is a 25% chance of it coming back again but they say within the next couple of years, if we don't see anything it should be gone for good." Garia said.

"Is there somehing else you're not telling me." She knew he could tell there was.

"Well I wasn't working at the BAU at the time so I wasn't making enough money to pay for his hospital bills. So I worked as a stripper for this high-end club. They called me Butterfly." Garcia was starting to cry at the memories. "I was able to stay caught up on his medical bills and teach myself code in my free time. Of course I got caught and that is what landed me this job."

* * *

Seeing her cry like that made him want to wrap her in his arms and never let her go. But he was kind of mad at her. _What made her think that she couldn't come tell me? _He thought.

"Was your son in remission when you came to work for the BAU?" Derek asked and Penelope shook her head. "So for the first couple of years you worked here your son was battling cancer?" She nodded her head. Well that explained why it took her such a long time to really fall into the groove of his flirtatious banter. He wrapped her in his arms and placed kisses all over her face and neck before finally settling his lips on hers for a soul searing, all consuming kiss that he felt all the way down to his toes. He pulled back and wiped the tears from cheek. "Penelope Olivia Garcia don't you ever keep anything like that away from me again. You were hurting for 2 years and didn't tell me...that is never ok." Derek looked into Penelope's emerald green eyes and wondered if that little boy of hers has those

"Actually it was more like six months." He pinned her with a look that said _not-the-point_.

"So two questions, " He said. "What is your son's name and when do I get to meet him?"

"His name is Jacob and I want you to meet him tonight. I promised him you would come over for dinner. " Derek's heart lit up like a christmas tree. She wanted him to meet her son and if he was anything like Penelope his mom would love him.

"Do you think Jacob would be able to go to Chicago? Mom would love to meet him." Derek said.

"You haven't even met him yet how could you possibly know that?" Penelope asked.

"Its my mom." He said as if that would explain everything and it kinda did. Then came the soccer ball.

* * *

Penelope opened the door to her own personal heart throb carrying dessert. He was wearing a pair of jeans that fit him perfectly everywhere and a black button up shirt that had the top 3 buttons undone. It showed off his muscles in a way no ther shirt could. "Hey Hot Stuff, you're right on time."

"I'm sorry Baby-Girl I forgot my chaps." He could tell she oggling his jeans but she couldn't help it. That thought alone made her want to forget her dinner and go straight for dessert. She told him all about her son and her past and what they went through and then all of a sudden a soccer ball came and almost hit Garcia in the head. Derek aparently saw it coming and caught it in mid air.

"Jacob Michael Garcia what have I told you about that soccer ball in the house?" Penelope was in lecture mode now.

"Not to." Jacob at least looked sheepish. Derek had a chance to take a good look at the kid. He was bi-racial just like him with brown-black hair and his mom's green eyes.

"'Not to' what?" She asked again.

"Not to play with it in the house." Jacob repied.

"Go sit in your room until dinner is ready." Garcia pointed down the hall. The last time Derek was here when Penelope got shot he just assumed it held a bathroom and a closet. Jacob walked down the hallway and slammed the door. "We don't slam doors Jacob!" she yelled again. She turned to look at Derek. "I'm sorry about that usually he is very well manered."

"Oh thats ok Baby-Girl. I was just wondering, where was Jacob when you got shot?" he asked

"Staying with a friend from the tech world. She lives nearby." She replied before going in to the kitchen.

"Anything I can do?" Derek asked pointing to the chopping board.

"That would be lovely I wanted to have this done before you got here but I ran out of time trying to pick the place up. If you want you can chop up the peppers and the onions while I stretch the dough. Right now pizza is the only thing he'll eat and I'd rather make it homemade so its healthier."

* * *

Derek understood he was the same way growing up. So he set to work chopping the vegies while she made the dough. It felt like home to him. Derek and Penelope making dinner while their kid was in the other room. He hadn't felt anything like that in a long time and he wanted to hold onto it forever but what seemed like moments later the pizza was done Penelope called Jacob for dinner and they sat down to eat.

"So Jacob your mom has told me so much about you. I hear you like soccer." Jacob looked up from his plate suddenly forgeting his food.

"Yeah its my favorite sport. I even watch it on tv." He said. He was so excited just talking about soccer his words were running together.

"What's your favorite team?" Derek asked.

"Didn't she tell you?" Jacob asked.

"She tried but she couldn't remember the exact name." Derek replied.

"Manchester United. David Beckham used to be my favorite player until he showed up in his underwear in that magazine my mom likes." Penelope choked on her pizza but Jacob didn't seem to notice. "Now my favorite is the goalie."

"My man, I love Manchester United." Derek said laughing at the look on Penelope's face. And Jacob looked he just saw a miracle.

Jacob turned to Derek and said. "Do you like football?"

"Yes I do my favorite team is the Chicago Bears and my favorite player is Jay Cuttler." Derek said. Jacob's mouth just dropped.

He turned to his mother and said. "You should marry him."

"I don't know sweetie, we'll see." she replied.

"But Mom he likes Manchester United AND Jay Cuttler!" Penelope and Derek cracked up laughing but Jacob continued undeterred. "Do you like baseball?" Derek nodded. "My favorite team is the Cubs."

"Mine too. My favorite player is Carlos Marmol."

"Not me mine is Matt Garza." Jacob replied and they spent the next couple of minutes debating Marmol vs Garza. "Mommy thinks they will never win the World Series." Jacob said in a whisper. Derek drew back in mock horror.

"Blasphemy!" Derek said."Hey, little man, how would you like to go see a Cubs game live? See if we can convince her."

"Really?" Jacob looked so happy. Like he could bounce right out of that chair.

"Yeah, really, and not only that but my mom has been dying to meet you. She loves kids." Derek said. "We can go whenever you want. Scarlette can take your mom's place for a while and I can get a temp to fill in for me. We can see a Cubs game and tour Chicago. "

"Can we go the week they play the Cardinals. I hate the Cardinals." Jacob said. Derek just laughed and nodded.


	6. Sobriety Birthdays and kidnapping

The next day Derek was thinking about his night with Penelope. Jacob loved him. Derek could not wait to introduce him to his mother. All of a sudden a little girl ran into the BAU and up to Derek. She looked like she was maybe 4, had black hair and large green eyes that were all too familiar but he couldn't place where. "Have you seen my mommy?"

"I don't know sweetheart, who is your mommy?" But before she answered the question the door the bullpen opened and the little girl screamed "Mommy!" She skipped into the arms of Scarlette. She picked up the little girl and swung her around. Derek looked at the two of them confounded. He walked across the bullpen over to them. "I thought you could no longer have children."

* * *

"I had Leah when I was 17. I had gotten out of rehab I could no longer forget my past in the bottom of a bottle so I hid from it in the arms of any man who would pay me some attention. I had this friends with benefits thing going on with this one dude when I found out I was pregnant. He had commitment phobia so bad he couldn't even be my boyfriend there was no way he could be a dad. So I broke it off with him, graduated early, and took off for Virginia. When I had Leah it almost killed me. I was in the hospital for almost a month. I even flatlined right after she was born." She whispered to Derek. Leah didn't need to know how hard it was to give birth to her. Lucky for Scarlette Leah was twirling around in circles away from them. "If I ever even tried to have another kid it would kill me."

"Ok. What is she doing here now?" Derek asked.

"I asked her baby-sitter to drop her off when it was time for us to clock out and go to my meeting." She said.

"Rossi wanted to surprise you with dinner before we headed over but that was before you dropped this little one on us."

"I'm sorry I figured you should meet her before we go over to the meeting and you wondered why there was a 4 year old girl at the meeting." she said. "I am sorry I probably should have warned you."

"Warned us about what?" Rossi walked into the bullpen and looked around. "And who is the girl."

Scarlette once again told Rossi how Leah came about. She introduced Leah to Rossi and he ended up inviting both of them over for dinner.

* * *

Rossi looked at Derek. She had no lucky shots, no ally-oops, no help, and yet she was standing before us 4 years sober, single mother, and working as one of the youngest profilers in the country. They all packed up and went to Rossi's. Penelope brought Jacob, Hotch brought Jack, JJ brought Henry, and she brought Leah. Rossi made pasta carbonara and gelato. Leah loved the homemade gelato. Scarlette had to force her to actually eat her dinner. Rossi made a quick toast and the rest of the dinner was spent laughing and joking. All of a sudden in the middle of the dinner Scarlette took a phone call. She was calm but she looked worried. Then all of a sudden she fell off her chair and Spencer rushed to her side.

* * *

The next thing she knew the team was surrounding her with Spencer trying to push them back to give her some space to breathe. Leah ran through the throng of grown-ups and ran to Scarlette. "Mommy are you ok?" Scarlette nodded and tried to get up. When Spencer got her to the chair the team demanded to know what had happened. Scarlette told Leah, Jack, Henry, and Jacob to go to the other room so they didn't hear. "Mr. Smith escaped from prison. Well I guess his name is Zachary Cole but I knew him as Kyle Smith."

"Wait you were that Scarlette Lacy?" Spencer asked. No one had made the connection and that was how she wanted it to be. _But I guess life doesn't always work out the way you expect it to. _She thought.

"Yeah and it was my testimony and that of one other girl that put him away." she said.

Spencer looked at Hotch. "She needs 24 hour protection. Her and Leah both."

"Spencer there isn't a judge alive who will grant that to you. We have no proof that he escaped to come after her." Hotch said.

"Then I'll give it to her." Spencer said.

"Reid you can barely shoot a gun." Derek said. Spencer glared at him. "Why don't I stay with her for a while? You can stay over to but I figured we should at least get someone who can shoot. " Spencer seemed ok with that. "But for right now we have a party to get to. We can't let some pervert ruin your day." She nodded.

* * *

And the shots keep coming. It seemed like she never got away from them. Derek, Penelope and Jacob got into his car. Before long they were following Scarlette's car on the way to the church where they held their meeting.

They walked into the meeting right on time. Scarlette made the introductions and then someone carted her off to the podium at the front of the room.

"Hello I'm Scarlette Lacy and I am an alcoholic." she said.

"Hello Scarlette."

"Well I guess my story starts out when I was 9. My mom was dying from Blunt Force trauma. My dad abused her from the moment they got married. Luckily my mom was able to keep him from abusing me but when she died that all changed. Whenever my dad drank I would get abused and when he wasn't drunk he didn't even care enough about me to even look at me. I was 10 when he married Cassandra. She was an awful horrible person. She didn't even have to be drunk to hit me.

I was 11 when I started High School. I was 12 when I was raped by my teacher." She heard a collective gasp and was glad that Leah and Jacob were in the day care center that was attached to the church. "I didn't find out until much later that I wasn't the only one and if I hadn't fought I would have died. All I know is what I did. After he finished with me he was too tired to do anything so I grabbed a nearby brick and hit him in the head with it and ran. It was hard enough to knock him out but not hard enough to kill him. When I finally got home my step-mother asked me where I had been and why I was dragging 'this mess' into her house. I went to clean myself up and I went to make dinner. The next day I went to the Superintendent and told him what had happened and he suspended Mr. Smith on the spot. He called my parents who then refused to press charges. The next day he disappeared.

I graduated when I was 14 but not before 3 years of torture at the hands of my classmates. I had started drinking by then but I was able to keep it under control. And by under control I mean I could hold down a job and go to my classes but when the weekend rolled around and I had time to think I didn't. Because when I would think I would remember Mr. Smith and my classmates and my family and I wanted to forget it all. So I remained drunk from Friday night all the way until Monday morning. That was also the same year I was invited to a party but it was a pig party. " She could tell from the collective gasp she didn't need to explain what it was. "The only consolation I had was when I got ready I looked like an anorexic model so he got laughed out of the fraternity. My drinking steadily got worse after that. By 16 I was experiementing with drugs. I was 17 when my older sister stopped in for a visit unannounced. She was 18 when my mom died so she never saw dad's bad side but she saw the effects. She found me face down in my own puke dying of acute alcohol poisoning. She sent me to the hospital and then to rehab. I have been clean ever since.

When I got out of rehab I felt like I needed to stay sober for me so I joined AA. For a while it felt like I needed to find something else to fill the whole the alcohol had left, so I started sleeping around. I was young and dumb. I even knew an accident pregnancy could kill me but I didn't care. I was in this on and off friends with benefits relationship with this one guy. In our most recent 'relationship' I got pregnant. 9 months later I was in the hospital. My blood pressure bottomed out and I was hemorrhaging from one of the many scars Mr. Smith left in me. I prayed to God to let me live through this and I told him I would be more careful. That is when I passed out.

The next thing I know I wake up the doctors are holding the most precious little person this world had ever seen. She had her father's hair right from jump street. Her green eyes didn't come until later. They handed her to me and I cried. I named her Leah Elizabeth after my mother. Whose name was also Leah. Everyday I look at her and I know God gave me the most beautiful angel. She has never known either of her grandparents but so far she's happy just me and her. Thats my story."

"Thank you Scarlette." They spent the rest of the evening eating cake and ice cream and sharing happy stories to offset the horror that filled her life. That was only going to get worse now that the unsub escaped from prison.

* * *

"When Jacob was born I knew from the moment I laid eyes on him that he was my son and no one could take him away from me. It was like holding heaven." Garcia said. All the other parents in the room shared the sentiment. All of they heard a gunshot ring out from the day care center. All of the parents ran to the Day Care Center. The kids were crying but the first thing they saw was the body of the day care worker on the floor with a bullet hole between her eyes. They did a head count. Everyone was accounted for except Leah. Scarlette counted all the kids again and again and screamed Leah's name but she was gone. She turned and stared at the team. Derek held his arms open ready to try to comfort his friend but she ran past his hug in to Spencer's awaiting arms. That's when they saw it. He loved her probably always had.


End file.
